About the Author:

Jon Williams

Living cells in your skin, called keratinocytes, produce a protective layer that provides flexible strength and keeps water and other external material out of your body. Keratinocytes provide this strength by producing a tough, triple-helix-shaped protein strand called keratin. Keratin is the primary constituent of skin, hair, nails and tooth enamel. The number of disulfide bonds that form between the three strands of the amino acid allow it to be flexible, as it is in skin and hair, or make it strong and hard, as it is in nails, animal hooves and tooth enamel. You can increase your keratin by consuming foods that are used to produce the keratin or by applying keratin-enhancing products topically.

Step 6

Use keratin formulated shampoos to nourish and supplement the keratin in your hair. Keratin shampoos help repair damaged hair, protect against further breakage and add elasticity and shine. Keratin treatments, available at salons and also for home treatment, use high temperature flat irons to make the keratin bond more effectively with your hair.

Tip

Don’t expect immediate results. The food you eat now affects the growth of new keratin. It will take 6 to 12 months for your hair to show the results.

Increased keratin will help strengthen hair, but it won’t affect thinning hair due to male pattern baldness.